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A quick bit of info for those who aren’t absolutely sick and tired hearing about the whole “Luis Fabiano transfer saga”.

LuFa today stated that he does not expect a transfer away from the Sánchez Pizjuán as he is happy in Nervión despite being linked with European heavyweights such as Tottenham, Inter and Manchester United. He stated that he could not speak while with his native Brasilian squad in South Africa but he is very content fulfilling his one year left in Sevilla.

While Fabiano may be technically, the strongest football in our squad, I was following the saga not minding either of the possible outcomes which either included LuFa staying in Sevilla or leaving for another European giant. Fabiano staying obviously provides us with great strength up front as he is still one of the best strikers in the world as displayed in his several World Cup performances. On the other hand, Luis is 29 years old, which by footballing standards, is old for a striker. The €20m+ which was being rumoured as the price for the Brasilian is in my opinion, an offer worth grabbing as we could definitely invest that into the squad in massive ways. Not that we have to worry about that anymore though, as Fabiano says he will be in Nervión next season.

Other musings around Europe have us linked to PSV midfielder Ibrahim Affelay, Everton star Mikel Arteta and most noticably, Napoli’s Luca Cigarini. There seemed to be some substance to the Cigarini gossip before it was reported that there was a breakdown in negotiations between Napoli and Sevilla in regards to the transfer. The Arteta rumour most likely is paper talk as I cannot see Everton accepting a £9m offer when there’s been talk of Manchester City offering £20m+.

Season Preperations
Disregarding the chaos that is going on in the transfer market, we are progressing nicely in our pre-season leading up to the 2010-2011 campaign.

Three consecutive wins against weaker opposition Chiclana, Villa Rota and San Fernando has set us up nicely for our World Cup stars Jesús Navas, Squillaci and Zokora to return to the squad in time for the Trofeo Carranza, and more importantly in the buildup to the beginning of the season. The return of these three crucial players means Antonio Álvarez will have some decisions to make as he must trim the squad down to 25 players to submit to UEFA before the start of the season. The issue will be even worse as we are still in the hunt for a new midfielder which will create more congestion within the squad. The excess number of players in the squad could mean the likes of Chevantón, Duscher, Lolo, De Mul and David Prieto all finding new homes for next season as it is said Álvarez isn’t pleased with their progress so far this pre-season. They could all be transfered in attempts to raise funds for a more prolific midfielder which we so desperately need.

Who we will actually sign in the summer before the start of the season is still very much a mystery but with the massive loss of Adriano to Barcelona, we definitely need some strengthening if there’s any hopes of not only closing the gap between ourselves and the big two in La Liga but also for our well being in the Champions League. We cannot expect to make it very far if the squad looks the same as it does today, on September 1 when the transfer window closes.

Category: Champions League, Copa Del Rey, Friendly Matches, International Matches, Team News, Transfers